Area musician Larry Wilson, who is from Smithville, and his fellow bandmates in the Larry Wilson Band have rocked their way through the Austin Blues Society’s Heart of Texas Blues Challenge in recent weeks and earned a spot in the competition’s final round later this month.
On Nov. 1, Wilson’s performance in the semifinals of the prestigious blues event secured his move into the final round where he will compete for one of eight coveted slots in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn. this coming January.
The final round of The Heart of Texas Blues Challenge will be held at Austin’s legendary blues club Antones on Sunday, Nov. 15 and is open to the public.
Wilson, who has lived in Bastrop for the past nine years, says he is looking forward to competing for the Memphis trip.
“I am really excited,” Wilson said. “I think there is a good chance I’ll make it but either way I get to have fun playing with the guys in my band. They are all good guys and I am really lucky to get to play with them.”
The International Blues Challenge is the world’s largest annual gathering and competition of blues musicians. Many past winners have launched their music careers by placing well in the event and earning club bookings around the U.S. and Europe.
Wilson says he learned to play his “electric delta” style of blues from hanging out and playing music with bluesmen in the portside section of Houston, where he grew up. He moved to Austin in the mid- 1970s where he eventually became a regular fixture around the city, performing for years with Jimmy Lafave, Miss Lavell White and others. He was eventually awarded an official Larry Wilson Day by Austin Mayor Will Wynn.
Wilson has played a number of festivals in and around Bastrop County since moving to the area and was a regular at Bastrop’s Big Mouth restaurant prior to its closing.